LISTEN: WEEI's Kirk Minihane Opens Up on Suicidal Thoughts that Led to Hospitalization

WEEI’s Kirk Minihane returned to Boston sports radio on Friday morning after he took a leave to receive medical attention after experiencing suicidal thoughts.

Minihane has previously acknowledged on-air that he suffers from depression, and tweeted on Thursday that he was having suicidal thoughts, which led him to check himself into a Massachusetts Hospital.

For those dealing with depression and/or suicidal thoughts, the suicide hotline is open 24/7. You can call 1-800-273-8255.

“I think that I hid the fact that I was thinking about doing it by pretending, in a weird way, like I was almost doing research on it,” Minihane said Friday.

That research on suicide led to his interest in how one might die if they were hit by a train. He found a train in the greater Boston area, which his research had showed could prove lethal. He had ridden the train and walked the route. On Thursday, Minihane was at the station, waiting for a train.

“I’m standing in front of my car … but I know I don’t want to die, but I know there’s this thing in my head that said, ‘Examine this,’ and, ‘Look at this,’ and it said, ‘Suicide, suicide, suicide,'” Minihane said. “And how I felt internally. I felt for the past couple weeks like I was having a heart attack all the time. I was having a hard time breathing. And I was also playing this character on the air who was feeling good and around my family who was feeling good and talking to my brothers who was feeling good. Meanwhile, I was sort of dying on the inside.”

That’s when he drove to the hospital, where he spent five days recuperating and discussing his issues with doctors.

He explained where he’s at now, and why he feels a lot better than when he checked into the hospital and how he’s going to change his mindset in facing his depression.